Counter and resetting mechanism therefor



Aug. 30, 1932. R. B. LONG 1,875,060

COUNTER AND RESETTING MECHANISM TIHEREFOR Filed Sept. 2, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /A/VE'A/TOH. ROBERT B. L /VG.

' ATM/@NEM Patented Aug. 3o, 1932 l p 1,875,060

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT B. LON G, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB T OHMER FAIRE RIEGISTR COMPANY, 0F DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK COUNTER AND RESETTING MECHANISM THEREFOR Application nled September 2, 1926. Serial No. 133,241.

This invention relates` to an improved cross section on the line 7-7 of Figure 3, counter and a resetting means therefor. l looking inthe direction of the arrows.

More specifically, the invention relates to Figure 8 is a view similar to Fi re 7 and a counter actuated by an arm which may be showing the transfer pinions isengaged either rotated or oscillated, and if oscillated from the Geneva wheels. may be moved either forward or backward Figure .9 is an elevational view artly in to advance the figure wheels of the counters. \cross section on the line 9-9 of igure l, Another object of the invention is to prolooking in the direction of the arrows, and vide means whereby the counters will not be Figure is a view similar to Figure 9 but 1o overthrown regardless of how fast or how showing the relative position of the parts oo slow the actuating means therefor may be after the resetting knob has been partially 0perated v rotated. f

Another object of the invention is to pro- Referring more specifically to the drawvide a novel transfer, pinion disengaging lngs, the U-shaped casing 1 is provided with 13 means so that the transfer pinions may be disen'd walls 2 and 3. A shaft 4 is mounted in e6 connected from the Geneva wheels on the reySaid walls 2 and 3 and is provided with a, setting operation and may be locked in en- 0011er 5 on the outside of the wall 3 and a gagement therewith wheny the figure wheels Collar 6 near the end of the shaft projecting are being actuated, through the wall 2, the object of the collars i Another object of the invention is to pro- 5 and 6 being to prevent longitudinal move- 70 vide means whereby the movement of the rement of the shaft. The shaft 4 is provided setting means is arrested when the figure with a channel 7 extending approximately wheels have been returned to zero position. for the distance between the end walls 2 Another object of the invention is to proand 3. l l vide a simple, compact and inexpensive ar- Fi ure wheels 8 are rotatably mounted on 75 rangement of parts which will be positive the s aft 4, each of which fi ure wheels is in operation and of such simple construction provided with a dog 50 adapte to engage the that there will be but little possibility of the abrupt wall of the channel 7. Each of the device getting out. of order. figure wheels is provided with a twenty- Other objects and advantages of the inventoothed gear 9 on one side and a disk 10 on 80 tion will appear in the detailed specification the lother side provided with a cutaway porwliich follows. Referring more specifically tion forming two gear teeth, not shown. to the drawings in which like characters are This mechanism constitutes the well known used throughout to designate similar parts; Geneva Wheels which cooperate with the Figure 1 is a front elevational view partly transfer pinions 11 mounted on a shaft 12 85 in cross section. carried by the arms 13 of the U-shaped mem- Figure 2 is a similar rear elevational-view. ber 14 which is pivoted on the shaft 15. Figure 3 is a top plan view. The member 14 has a downwardly and rear- Figure 4 is a detailed fragmentary View wardly depending flange 16 which extends of the left hand portion of the machine with beyond the end wall 3 and is provided with 90 the resetting knob pushed inwardly so as an inwardly extending ear 17 which engages to disengage the transfer pinions from the a disk 18 on the hollow shaft 19, on which is Geneva wheels. mounted the knurled knob 20. The disk 18 Figure 5 is an elevational view partly in is provided with a camportion 21, said cam cross section on the line 5-5 of Figure l, portion 21 being merely a cutaway part of 95 looking in the direction of the arrows. the disk 18, as is clearly shown in Figure 2. Figure 6 is an elevational view partly in A spring 22 is secured to the fiange 16 at cross section on the line 6 6 of Figure 3, one end, is coiled around the shaft 15 and is looking in the direction of the arrows. secured at its other end in a bracket 23 se- Figure 7 is an elevational view partly in vcured to the end wall 3 of the casing. The 100 shown in Figure .1.

function of the spring' 22 is to pull the mem-L ber 16 towards the shaft 4 when the knob 20 is moved -inwardly so as to bring the cam portion 21' beneath the ear 17.

The hollow shaft 19 is provided with a shoulder 24, and a coiled spring 25 is inter-v posed .between the shoulder'24 and the colsaid spring being between the inner periphery of the hollow shaft 19 and the outer periphery of the shaft 4. The sprin 25 therefore tends to normally push the kno away from the collar 5 or into the position nu osciuatabie bracket 2e is provided with 'arms 27 and 28 rotatably mountedN on the shaft 15. The arm 28 of the bracketis best.

shown in theFigures 9 and. 10, in which gures it will be noted that the rearwardly extending portion of the arm 28 is engaged by a. cam 29 carried by the 'hollow sha-ft 19. The forwardly extending portion of the arm .28 is hook-shaped to receive a pin 30 car# spring 31 can exert its force thereon to move the arm 28 from the position shown in Figure 9 to that shown in Figure 10 so as to raise the forwardly extending hook-shaped portion above the pin'30.

An operating arm 32 is secured to the shaft 4 by any conventional means such as a screw 33 as is well .known in the art. The shaft 4 is provided with an eccentric or cam 34 which rotates within a slotted lever 35 pivoted to a pin 36, which lever 35 carries an operating dog 37 pivoted thereto as at 38. A.

spring 39 tends to pull said dog 37 against a stop pin 40 carried by the lever 35. The

dog 37 is provided with a pin 41 which engages a star wheel 42 secured to the'shaft 15. The shaft 15 is also provided with a pinion 43 which meshes with the gear 9 of the units figure wheel 8. A. 'spring 44 is secured toa bracket 45 which is in turn securedto the end'wall 2 of the casing. The spring 44 engages the star wheel 42 and serves as .a means to prevent'l retrograde -movement thereof. Y

1n operation, thefigure wheels are actuated vas follows:

When the actuating arxn 32 is either' rotated or oscillated forwardly or rearwardly, the lever 35 is oscillated on its pivot 36 so as to alternately move the dog 37 and pin 41 toward and from the star wheel 42 thereby rotating the star -wheel 42, the shaft 15 and pinion 43 step by step and thereby actuating the units figure wheel 8 so as to successively advance the` same from one numeral to the next numeral. The transfer pinion 11 is in' engagement with the disk 1() on-the units figure wheel .8, which transfer pinion is roltated one step when the single tooth on theI v disk 10 engages therewith, which rotation of the gure'wheel advances the tens ligure wheel 8 one'unit as is well understood by those skilled in the art. It is well known lthat such transfer pinions are provided with `alternating long and short teeth. Aspring 53, Figure 6, carried by the member 14 presses against the two top long teeth so that rotation of the transfer pinions is resisted, but this resistance may be easily overcome when the transfer` pinion is positively actuated as described above. In like manner the figure. wheels of higher denomination are rotated when the units wheel has made a. suicient number of rotations to actuate the figure wheelsof higher denomination. All of the figurel wheels are resiliently held in position by'means of flat springs 46 provided with an inwardly extending detent 47 which engages between' two of the teeth on each of l the gears y9. These springs 46 are secured to the casing 1 and the tension thereof will be overcome when the wheels are positively' actuated. The spring is', however, of a suincient tension to move the gears and figure wheels either to the higher or the lower number unless the detent 47 should rest squarely on the top of one of the teeth of the gears 9.

When it is desired to reset the mechanism, the knob 2O is moved inwardly against the tension of the spring 25 so as to move the pin 30 out of the hooked end of the arm 28 of the bracket 26. This inward movement of the knob 20 likewise moves the cam 29 inwardly from beneath the rearwardly extending portion of the arm 28. The spring 31 now raises the forwardly extending portion of the arm28 so that the pin 30 can be rotated rearwardly as viewed in Figure 1, beneath the bracket 26, while the spring 22 pulls the ange 16 inwardly raising the transfer pinions 11 from the position shown in Figure 7 to that shown in Figure 8, or out of c on'- tact with the gears 9 and disks 10, while the springs 53 hold the transfer pinions 11 against rotationso that when the pinions again mesh with the gears, there will be no clashing of teeth. Unless the springs 53 were provided, it might so happen that one of the teeth of the transfer pinions would fall squarely on top of oneof the teeth of the gears `9 and thereforev fail to roperly mesh therewith. The springs 53 e ectually eliminate su'ch a possibility.- The spring 22 is permitted to thus remove the pinions 11 because of the fact that as the disk 18 moves inwardly the cutaway cam portion 21 moves beneath the inwardly extending ear 17 so that the full force of the spring 22 is exerted on the U-shaped member 14 which carries the shaft 12 on which is mounted the pinions 11.

The pinions 11 now being disengaged from their respective gears and the bracket 28 being removed from the path of movement of the in 30, the shaft 4 may be rotated in a cloc wise direction as viewed in Figure 7 ,c

this rotation of the knob 20 being imparted to the shaft 4 by means of a pin 48 carried by the shaft 4r and'lying within a cutaway portion 49 of the knob 20. As the shaft 4 is now rotated, no movement is imparted to the li ure wheels 8 until the channel 7 is engage by the do 50, whereupon a nfurther rotation of the s aft 4 will cause the figure wheels 8 to be rotated. Inasr'nuch as all of the dogs 50 are similarly located on their respective figure wheels, andsince the numerals on the figure wheels are similarly located with respect to the dogs 50, it is obvious that a continued rotation of the shaft 4 will cause the same number to appear beneath the sight opening 51 in the casing 1. When the knob 20 has nearly completed a single rotation, the cam 29 engages the rearwardly extending arm 28 of the bracket 26 and moves it outwardly into the position shown in Figure 9 while the ear 17 holds the flange 18 very close to the end wall 3. When the knob 2O completes its revolution, the pin 30 strikes against the inner wall 52 of the bracket 26 which stops the rotation of the knob 20. The cutaway cam portion 21 is now beneath the ear 17 and the spring y25pushes the knob 20 into the position shown in Figure 1 while the cam 21 moves the ear 17 outwardly so as to rock the member 14 on the shaft 15 and cause the pinions 11 to en age the Geneva wheels connected with the gure wheels. The numerals on the figure wheels are, of course, positioned thereon so that when the counter has been reset as'described above, only zeros would appear in the sight opening 51. Obviously this might be changed 1f special conditions so reuired. For instance, in taximeters it is not esired to reset the counters to zero but to that arbitrary ligure which may represent the initial fare charged the passenger. In such a condition, obviously t e numerals on the outside of the units and tens figure wheels would be accordingly changed.

This invention may be used wherever counters are employed, and I therefore do not limit myself to any particular use thereof. Furthermore, many changes may be made in the specific embodiment as shown by way of illustration in this application, and I therefore desire to claim my invention broadly and reserve to myself the right to substitute equivalents and to make all changes and modifications which may fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a counter, a shaft, counting wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, resetting means for said counting wheels, said resetting means including a bracket provided with a slot, a slideable shaft, a pin thereon, means whereby said bracket is raised so that said pin will pass beneath the bracket, and means whereby said bracket is moved so that said pin will engage one side of said slot to limit the rotation of said slideable shaft when the counters have been reset to zero.

2. In a counter, a rotatable shaft, counting wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, resetting means for said counting wheels, said resettlng means including a ivoted bracket provided with a slot, a slidable shaft, a pin thereon, means whereby said bracket is raised so that said pin will pass beneath the bracket,

and means whereby said bracket limits the ro- 1 ,ting means including a bracket provided with a slot, a slideable shaft, means whereby said slidable shaft is connected to said first mentioned shaft so that when the slideable shaft is rotated the rst mentioned shaft will likewise be rotated, a pin carried b the slideable shaft, means whereby said brac et is raised so that said pin will pass beneath the bracket, and means whereb said bracket is moved so that said pin wil enga e said bracket to limit the rotation of said s ideable shaft when the counters have been reset to zero.

4. In a counter, a shaft, counting wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, means connecting said shaft and wheels so that when said shaft is rotated said wheels will be reset, a bracket provided with a slot, a slideable shaft connected to said first mentioned shaft,

a pin carried by the slideable shaft, which pin normally rests in said slot, means whereby said bracket is raised so that said pin will pass beneath the bracket when the slideable shaft is actuated, and means whereby said bracket is moved so that said pin will engage the sides of said slot and lock the slideable shaft against rotation in any direction.

5. LIn a counter, a shaft, counting wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, resetting means for said counting wheels, said resetting means including a pivoted bracket provided with a slot, a slideable shaft, a pin thereonV normally resting within said slot, means whereby when said slideable shaft 1s moved inwardly said bracket will be raised so that said pin will pass beneath the bracket, and means whereby said bracket is moved so that said pin will engage one side of said slot to limit the rotation of said slideable shaft when the counters-have been reset to zero.

ROBERT B. LONG. 

